Jim Henson

July issue of Story Monsters Ink includes two Chicago area children's book authors who are listed among the winners of a national book contest, the Purple Dragonfly Awards. Lilita Matison, of Chicago, won honorable mention for her book, Bye-Bye Butterflies: Seven Ways to Breathe Out Worry, in the Best Illustrations category. Tracy Schlepphorst, who is from Quincy, won first place for her book, Eden and Her Happy in the Picture Books 5 and Younger category. The free magazine supporting children's literacy also features the man behind Sesame Street's Big Bird and Oscar the Grouch characters, Caroll Spinney. Spinney has delivered lasting education lessons to millions of...

Related "Jim Henson" Articles

A new documentary about "Sesame Street" puppeteer Caroll Spinney, "I Am Big Bird," tells many well-known and loved stories about Spinney's adventures in the big yellow suit. It also tells one story so frightening that editors of...

There aren't many octogenarian entertainers who have managed to stay relevant in the ever-changing cultural zeitgeist, but then there haven't been many people who have played Big Bird. Caroll Spinney helped create the big yellow bird for PBS' "Sesame...

"Our story here goes back 12,000 years," Michael Perkins tells a visiting group at the Orange County Regional History Center, referring to the ancient Indians who migrated into Florida when the wildlife included 12-foot-tall mammoths.
That...

Jon Bristol grew up watching and loving the Muppets. After he graduated from Conard High in West Hartford in 1993, he taught himself puppetry.
Today, Bristol makes puppets that look a lot like Muppets. But they don't act like Jim Henson's Muppets. They...

For all the goodwill Jim Henson's fuzzy creations have earned over the years, they haven't always had an easy path to the multiplex — and once there, they haven't always notched big numbers.
Movies inspired by the pioneering puppeteer have therefore...

When Becki Johnson’s busy life as a wife, mother and executive assistant gets too hectic, she seeks a break from the madcap modern grind: She plays video keno.
But not on the Strip, where the hubbub of cavernous casinos, ebb and flow of boozy strangers...

The Silk City Chorus, which has been performing for more than 50 years, is always looking to keep its shows fresh.
For instance, last year the 70-man barbershop choir constructed a pirate ship for its annual stage show.
This year the group is working...

After Mystic author, Tish Rabe, penned more than 150 tales for tots, many stories about Clifford and Curious George, she wanted to create a signature character, all her own. "I wrote a rhyming book about a dinosaur. Maurus O'Roarus was a...

Gerard Parkes, the Irish-Canadian actor best known for his roles on the Muppets' "Fraggle Rock" and crime film "The Boondock Saints," has died, his agent said on Tuesday.
The actor died at a retirement home in Toronto on Sunday from...

Teen sci-fi should rule the box office this weekend, with the highly anticipated "Divergent" poised for a strong launch of a new franchise.
"Divergent," from Lionsgate's Summit Entertainment, could generate $55 million or...

Tina Fey looks to be a less friendly face for the beloved Muppets in this weekend's sequel "Muppets Most Wanted," playing Siberian prison guard Nadya. But Fey said her role in the new film belies her feelings about the fuzzy creatures -- like...

To the pop cognoscenti, the French dance-music duo Daft Punk exists as an ideal, modern musicdom's most consistent, influential, enigmatic trailblazer, in addition to being crowned the major winner of the 2014 Grammy Awards by scoring record of the year...

Longtime entertainment lawyer Irwin Russell, whose clients included Michael Eisner and Jim Henson, died Aug. 23 of complications from leukemia. He was 87.
Russell, a New York native, is best known for working to get Eisner installed as chief executive of...

Jane Nebel Henson, who collaborated with her husband, Jim Henson, in creating, designing and marketing the Muppets, died Tuesday at her home in Connecticut after battling cancer. She was 78.
Her death was announced by the Jim Henson Co.
The couple met...

Which U.S. Disney park reigns supreme? Loyal Walt Disney World fans balk at the idea of deigning to visit the, in their minds, inferior Disneyland. Meanwhile those loyal to the original Disney park may visit Florida's Disney World for its additional...

From the maker of “The Muppets” to the mayor of Boston, the list of folks severing ties with Chick-fil-A due to the fast-food company’s opposition to gay marriage is growing.Jim Henson Co., which has produced characters for &ldqu

August Wilson's "Jitney," set in 1977, focuses on a poor urban neighborhood where "urban renewal" just means demolition and neglect. The plot revolves around a company of unlicensed cabs trying to maintain service for an...

In the world of amphibian celebrities, there's no bigger star than Kermit the Frog.
Yet back in January on the set of Disney's upcoming film "The Muppets" — the first big screen outing for Jim Henson's beloved menagerie since 1999's...